Slow and Steady
by JiiKa
Summary: Starting high school is fine for Sakura Haruno, but what will happend when she meets new people and relationship's start? And who's that bad boy with the red hair and green eyes? A SasuSaku fanfic, with a whole lot of other pairing's too :D
1. Beginning

**YAY! First chapter of my firstest story on this website (that translates into: It's probably gonna be shit)  
But hey, criticism is weclome and so is non-criticism-ness :D  
The story is basically a mixture of idea's and crap and fluff and other stuff and more crap.  
And um, well I do hope you enjoy it! - Jiika**

--  
**Chapter 1 - Beginning**

Sakura Haruno woke in her small house one morning and groaned, "Time for school..." she muttered sleepily and stumbled towards the bathroom. Her bubble-gum pink hair swaying and emerald eyes half closed as she took a shower, dried her hair and sorted the best outfit for her first day in high school. It was 7:45am when she emerged from her red painted room in skinny jeans, a blue shirt and grey hoodie, for breakfast.

Pouring her cereal, she thought about her previous school, and that certain previous boyfriend, Sai. 'That gay ass retard' she thought, rolling her green orbs in disgust. She remembered at the beginning, he was nice and kind and caring...but then sort of, stopped liking her. Like she didn't exist, or didn't need his attention, or wasn't worth it. Sakura took a deep breath, 'a new beginning at a new school and a new life, is just what I need' she thought.

Finishing up her cereal, she glanced at the clock, 7:55. 'Oh shit, I'm gonna be late on the first day!' Sakura thought and quickly snatched her white bag and keys, then half-walked, half-ran to her silver Viper. Time: 7:57, "Aaahh! School starts at 8am!" Sakura said out loud and revved up the engine. Her pink locks blowing around her head as she dialled Tenten's number and drove off.

"Sup Sak?" asked Tenten,  
"Oh, nothing, just arriving late on the FIRST day!" replied Sakura.

Tenten is Sakura's best friend and is starting high school at Konoha High, the same as Sakura. Except that Tenten was already there, and not running late. She always had her chocolate brown hair tied up in two buns at the top of her head, and her hazel eyes were bright and she is tom-boyish.

"What's takin' you?"  
"I was just...thinking at breakfast. It's ok, I'll be there in a sec!"  
"Whatever, but hurry up. I don't want to be a loner."  
"Ok, is Ino with you?"

Ino is another of Sakura's friends that came from her previous school. She has platinum blonde hair that reached to her waist in a high ponytail with a long side fringe. Ino was more of a girly girl and absolutely adored shopping, Tenten on the other hand liked video games and sport better. Sakura was just...Sakura, good at soccer and drawing.

"Nup, she's at school, just not with me. Probably flirting with guys again."  
"Yeah, that'd be her. Well, I'll be over soon, wait for me!"  
"Kay, cya."

Sakura hung up and planted both hands on the steering wheel. 'No cop's around?' She thought, scanning the roads around her, 'good'. She sped off at top speed towards Konoha High.

Sakura arrived a couple of minutes later and panted as she stood at the front desk.

"May I...please..have ...my schedule?" she asked between gasps of air.

The woman behind the desk with 'Shizune' on her gold name tag nodded.  
"Unusual for one of the new students to be late" she said as she dug through the papers on the desk, "everyone else has gone to their first class for the usual talk on the school and rules."  
Shizune finally placed a small green book on the desk and slid it over to Sakura, "Sakura Haruno, hope you have an enjoyable first day!"  
Sakura smiled, 'I sure hope so too' and she ran to her classroom on the first floor.

Ino sat in the corner of the classroom staring out the window. She was waiting for Sakura to arrive because Kakashi-sensei, their teacher, said that she was in Ino's class.  
Ino sighed, she wasn't usually this bored. Normally, she was bubbly and smiling and shouting everywhere, but today she just felt out of it. 'I need some fun, guess boy-checking is first on the list' she turned her head to the fellow students in the room. Ino scanned the class and her eyes fell on a group of boys sitting in the far corner. One of them had sparkling blue eyes and bright blonde spiky hair, he was grinning non-stop and didn't seem to be able to sit still. The guy leaning on a desk near the blonde dude, had jet black hair that was spiky at the back and fell in bangs over eyes at the front. His onyx orbs were fixed on the table looking very bored, but Ino didn't care. 'Omg, that black haired guy is H-O-T, HOT!!' she thought, 'I wonder what his name is...?' shrugging mentally, she continued looking over the group. There was one boy slouching in his chair, his pineapple shaped brown hair sticking out the back of his head. 'Aw, he's sorta cuuute' thought Ino, smiling to herself.

In the middle of Ino's "checking out-ness", Kakashi started on roll call. "Please would people take their seats". He started calling a couple of names and Ino started to get worried that Sakura had crashed and was unable to accompany her in their very first day of high school! Suddenly someone rushed into the room and Ino looked up in surprise, it was Sakura, she looked a bit red in the face but not dirty and definitely not involved in a car crash.

Kakashi looked up from his list and at her, "Sakura Haruno? Please take a seat by Sasuke Uchiha."

'Huh? Who's Sasuke Uchiha?' thought Sakura. She looked around the room confused.

The boy with the black hair and onyx eyes sighed and raised his hand.  
'OMG!' thought Ino, 'It's the hot guy I was checking out just before! Way to go Sakura!'  
Sakura made her way towards the teenager with black bangs, 'whoa, talk about scoring on the first day!'  
She spotted Ino in a corner and saw her silently pump her fist in the air, 'You go girl!'

Sakura blushed and smiled, then planted herself in the chair next to Sasuke.

Kakashi continued his role call, "Naruto Uzumaki", the blonde grinning spiky haired boy cried "YEP!!"  
"Shikamaru Nara"  
"Yeah" the pineapple haired boy answered.  
"Neji Hyuga"  
A calm boy with long dark brown hair tied at the bottom and pearly light blue eyes nodded his head at the teacher.  
'He's one of the boy's that was sitting by Sasuke, and so was Shikamaru' thought Ino.  


"Kiba Inuzuka"  
"Yes"  
'Another one sitting next to Sasuke' Kiba had short spiky brown hair and two upside-down red triangle tattoo's below his eyes.  
"Shino Aburame"  
A guy with small sunglasses hiding his eyes and a high collared white jacket, nodded his head at Kakashi-sensei. 'He's another one of those guys sitting in "Sasuke's group". Hehe, I like that name' thought Ino.

Kakashi closed the roll and pulled out a small orange book.

"I thought we were supposed to hear about the school?" whispered Sakura to Sasuke,  
"We are" Sasuke whispered back.  
"Then why is he reading that purvey book instead of giving us our explanation?"  
"Coz he's a perve. Anyway, I can't stand explanations, they're boring. I prefer figuring stuff out myself" answered Sasuke, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
Sakura just frowned and laid her head on the desk.  
Sasuke smirked, "So where you come from candy-floss?"  
Sakura glared at him, 'Nosy stuck-up bastard, I hate him already'  
"Why do you care? And there's nothing wrong with my hair, it's _naturally_ pink"  
Sasuke smirked again,  
'God his smirk is hot' thought Sakura trying desperately not to blush.  
"Never said it wasn't" replied Sasuke, noticing her blush, and smirking more.  
"Well..." Sakura struggled for a comeback, "...your hair looks like a chicken's ass!"  
The smirk was wiped clean off Sasuke's face.

Someone chuckled beside Sakura and both of them turned to see who it was,  
"Shut up Hyuga" snarled Sasuke to the pale-eyed boy sitting next to Sakura on the other side.  
"Ha! He agrees with me! I WIN!" cried Sakura triumphantly.  
"Yeah...it does kinda look like a chicken's butt teme!" said the blonde named Naruto,  
"I said shut up, dobe"

Sakura was grinning the whole time the conversation about Sasuke's (hot) hair was happening.

"What are you grinning at Candy?" asked Sasuke,  
"Nothing!" Sakura answered in fake innocence, then smirked at his annoyance.  
"Don't worry about him, he ju.." Neji was cut off by a voice at the door.

"SAK-UUU-RA, III-NO!!" someone cried near the front of the classroom, it was Tenten.  
Neji's whitish eyes widened, 'Holy shit...' He saw Tenten standing near the door in a blue miniskirt, white strapless tube shirt and pink white striped flats. Tenten caught his eye and Neji quickly looked away, a slight pink tint on his pale cheeks. Tenten smiled, 'the one with long hair looks fierce!' she thought, strolled over to Ino and sat down next to her. Neji snuck a look at Tenten and she winked at him, which made him turn his head away (again).

"You were saying..?" asked Sasuke smirking, he had seen everything that had happened between Neji and Tenten. Neji just sat there silently, the pink tint still present.

"You seem to know her Sakura" said Sasuke nodding towards Tenten and saw Neji perk up.  
"Er..yeah, she's one of my best friends" said Sakura, waving at Tenten and smiling, "her name's Tenten and that girl she's next to is Ino. She's my other friend".

"What's it to you anyway...Sasuke?" said Sakura,  
"Nothing, just curious"  
"Sure you are" Sakura eyed him suspiciously.  
"Hn" Sasuke said simply,  
"Sorry?"  
"Hn"  
"What does that mean?"  
"Hn"  
"Ugh, I give up" stated Sakura and she waved Tenten and Ino over to their table.

Ino grinned and Tenten smiled deviously as they approached and stood in front of the group of boy's and Sakura.

"Hi, I'm Ino Yamanaka"  
"And I'm Tenten" said Tenten scanning the boy's like Ino did before. Her eyes landed on the pearly eyed teen with the long brown hair, she smiled at him and he smiled back.  
"Hiya! I'm Naruto!!"  
"Don't have to be so loud dobe"  
"I'm Kiba, and that was Sasuke"  
"Sup, name's Shino"  
"Shikamaru"  
Ino smiled inwardly, he was the pineapple head that looked bored but cute at the same time.  
"And that's Neji Hyuga" said Sakura mainly to Tenten because of the previous events.  
"Wait a sec...Hyuga?" asked Ino, "like Hinata Hyuga? Like our friend Hinata? Like our friend Hinata Hyuga?"  
"You know my cousin? I thought she was coming to this school, wonder where she is..." said Neji.

Just then a girl with raven black hair stumbled into the room, she wore a baggy white jumper that was two sizes too big for her. Her face was all red and flushed, and she looked distressed and confused.  
'Aah, just like Hinata' thought Neji, Ino, Tenten and Sakura at the same time.  
Ino called Hinata over to meet their new friends but as she walked she accidently tripped over a book.  
"Oh no!" cried Naruto and he rushed up just in time to catch her.  
"Aaahh" said Hinata and her turned bright red, "th-thank y-y-you..."  
"Naruto, I'm Naruto"  


"Th-thank you..Naruto" Hinata smiled, and so did Naruto who quickly lifted Hinata up and place her on her feet.

Hinata came over and hugged her friends and Neji. "H-hello, I'm Hinata" Hinata stuttered,  
"Hinata, try to stop stuttering, you've been doing since you were 13" said Neji,  
"Yeah, have faith in yourself Hinata" added Naruto. Hinata looked at him and blushed again, "I'll try, Naruto"

"The Bell's gonna ring any minute now" stated Shikamaru.  
"What classes have you guys got?" asked Kiba and they all checked their timetables and figured out that Sakura and Sasuke had Sport and Hinata, Naruto, Kiba and Shino went to English, while Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten and Neji studied History.

The Bell signalled the end of class and the group of new friends headed towards their next subjects.

"You good at sport Candy?" asked Sasuke, smirking at Sakura's glare.  
"I'm OK, what about you chicken's ass?"  
Sasuke glared, "I bet I'm better than you!"  
They all fell silent as their teacher, Anko-sensei, called out orders.

"EVERYONE go and change into your PE uniform! Today we'll be playing soccer!"

'Perfect, now I can show Sakura what I can do!' thought Sasuke.  
'I'll tear him apart before he knows what's happening' grinned Sakura.

The boys were wearing red shorts and white shirts with Konoha High's logo in red on the back. The girls wore red plaid skirts that went down to the mid thigh and also white shirts with the logo.

"Alright!" shouted Anko-sensei and she looked at her roll list, "umm...Sakura Haruno, you will be captain of Team 1 and...er Sasuke Uchiha, you'll be captain of Team 2, please stand up front and I'll pick the teams for you..."  
"HEY! Why does she get to be captain? I want to be captain like Sasuke!" cried a bratty looking girl with black hair and ugly glasses, 'another fan girl' sighed Sasuke.  
"Karin, am I correct? I pick the teams here and I don't give a...basketball whether you care or not! Ow pipe down!" Anko-sensei picked their teams and said that for today's lesson, they were playing soccer, Team 1 vs. Team 2. They played in the gym and Team 1 started with the ball.

'Time to kick ass' both captains grinned.

**W00t...it's the end of the chapter! TT :D**


	2. Friends

**So, the next chapter was submitted 5 minutes after the first? No kidding.  
Just to let you know, the itallic text usually means someone is in flashback mode.  
At the beginning here its just a recap of last chapter. Why? For fun.  
ENJOY!**

Recap:

_"Alright!" shouted Anko-sensei and she looked at her roll list, "umm...Sakura Haruno, you will be captain of Team 1 and...er Sasuke Uchiha, you'll be captain of Team 2, please stand up front and I'll pick the teams for you..."  
"HEY! Why does she get to be captain? I want to be captain like Sasuke!" cried a bratty looking girl with black hair and ugly glasses, 'another fan girl' sighed Sasuke.  
"Karin, am I correct? I pick the teams here and I don't give a...basketball whether you care or not! Ow pipe down!" Anko-sensei picked their teams and said that for today's lesson, they were playing soccer, Team 1 vs. Team 2. They played in the gym and Team 1 started with the ball._

_'Time to kick ass' both captains grinned._

--  
**Chapter 2 - Friends**

Half the lesson had already gone by and both Sakura and Sasuke were panting heavily. The scores were even. Anko-sensei blew the whistle and threw the ball in again. The captains dove for it but Sakura got there first and dribbled the ball to Team 2's goal. 'Oh shit' thought Sasuke, 'ah think fast! I got it!' He smirked and ran up to Sakura who was currently speeding towards his goal. Sasuke quickly snaked his arms around her waist.  
"Eep!" Sakura squeaked and blushed as he touched her. She lost complete control over the ball so Sasuke quickly stole it and passed it to a fellow player, while smirking at Sakura, who was left frozen on the spot.

'That bastard, wants to play dirty eh? I'll show him dirty' and she ran for the ball, now in Sasuke's grasp.

She ran right up to him, so close that their bodies were almost touching and she breathed in his ear.  
Sasuke felt hot strawberry smelling breath in his ear that sent shivers down his neck, he completely forgot about the ball for a split second, but Sakura saw the opening jumped in, stealing it from him.

Sasuke growled and was about to tackle her when Anko-sensei blew her whistle and called them in to get changed back into their clothes.

**Time skip to Lunch...**

The four girls sat at a table eating their lunch and talking about how their first day had gone so far.

"Oh my gosh! Neji is sooooo cute! I told him I sucked at History, coz I do, and he offered to help me out! How sweet is that, homework with a hottie" Tenten squealed.

"Well, Shika and I both like clouds" said Ino,  
"Clouds?" asked Tenten quizzically.  
"Yeah, they're fun if you try hard enough!"  
"Whatever...how did you go with Sasuke, Sakura?"

"What..?" Sakura had spaced out, she was thinking about when Sasuke touched during the match. 'How did he know I was ticklish there? Maybe it was just a guess, or maybe..he likes me? No, that can't be right. We've only known each other for a couple of lessons'

"Sakura? Hello!?" shouted Ino,  
"Sorry, I was thinking about something that happened in Sport".  
"Aaand... what would that be?" asked Tenten,  
"Nothing, I just sort of...fell over in front of everyone!" She blurted out.  
'Boy Sakura, you are one heck of a bad liar. But I'll let it slip this time' thought Tenten.  
"Whatever" muttered Tenten.

"Oh, Sakura I walked to school and I'm planning on shopping this afternoon so...?"  
"Sure Hinata, you can borrow my car. Just take care of it!"  
"YAY Thanks Sak, you're the best!" cried Hinata and she hugged Sakura tightly.

"Hey girls, mind if we join you?"  
The four of them turned around to see Neji who asked the question.  
"Suuuure" answered Tenten sweetly.

So the group of guys sat at their table all eating lunch and chatting.

They were all getting along peacefully when all of a sudden the girl Sakura knew to be Karin waltzed up to Sasuke and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and glared at her for disrupting his lunch time, "What do you want Karin?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to say Hi, Sasuke" she said with hearts in her eyes, but then spotted Sakura sitting next to him.  
"What is that _thing_ doing with MY Sasuke?!" Karin said annoyed,  
"For your information, I am not a _'thing'_ my name is Sakura and Sasuke can hang out with anyone he likes!" said Sakura, she was already hating that brat.  
"Come on Sasuke, will you eat lunch with me?" Karin asked in fake sweetness,  
"I'll pass, now stop touching me and go away!" replied Sasuke coldly.  
"How can you be so cruel Sasuke!? It's that bitch isn't it" she said glaring icily at Sakura.  
"Who're you calling 'bitch' whore?" retorted Sakura,  
"I'm calling you bitch!"  
"Dare you to say that again!" Sakura spat dangerously at Karin.  
"That's enough, go away Karin, no one like's you. And Sakura, settle down" said Sasuke calmly.

Sakura glared at Sasuke for holding her back, then at Karin for calling her a bitch, 'that fucking retard'.  
Karin just smirked and smiled at Sasuke, "catch you later, Sasuke" and she blew him a kiss. Sasuke shuddered and let go of Sakura who was struggling in his grasp.  
"Should've let me beat her up!" Sakura snarled, "she would've got what she deserved".  
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I'm sure she would" he said and went back to eating lunch.

**Time skip to end of day...**

"Bye Sakura, and thanks again!" called Hinata from Sakura's car,  
"No probs Hinata" Sakura shouted back and Hinata drove off in the direction of the mall.

(sigh) 'Now I have to walk all the way home' thought Sakura hoisting her bag on her shoulder and setting off down the footpath. 'I wonder what Ino's doing..' Sakura wondered aimlessly, she was bored out of her mind after 5 seconds. 'Lucky I have no homework on the first day, that would be such a drag' her thinking was interrupted by an engine revving on the road beside her. She looked over and saw a shining red car driving along next to her as she walked. Sakura inspected the driver, it was Sasuke, complete with smirk and chicken's ass hair.

"How long have you been here?" asked Sakura,  
"Oh, quite a while. I'm surprised you didn't notice me" Sasuke smirked.  
Sakura just glared, "So what's up? Why are you driving next to me?"  
"I dunno, why are you walking home? Don't you have a car?"  
"Yeah" Sakura rolled her eyes at his question, "except Hinata needed it to get to the mall".  
"Girls and their shopping..." muttered Sasuke,  
"What was that?" asked Sakura.

"Nothing. Anyway, do you need a ride?" said Sasuke,  
"Don't change the subject! And I can walk home perfectly myself" said Sakura, sticking her nose in the air. After a few seconds she sneaked a peek to see if Sasuke was still there, he was, and smirking too.  
"Why are you still here?! Scram already!" Sakura glared,  
"Where do you live? I'll take you" Sasuke said ignoring her previous comment.  
"Now that, (dramatic pause) is confidential information, it's not necessary for your knowledge!" retorted Sakura.

Sasuke just groaned, "ah so many long words. Just get in already, I don't have time for this".  
"If you don't have time, then why are you offering on taking me home? And why do you care anyway"  
"Because you're a new friend and it's only nice"  
"So you treat all you're new friends like this? Since when are you nice anyway? To me you're a stuck-up, nosy, snob-faced, chicken's-butt-haired bastard!"  
Sasuke stared, it was the first time a girl had spoke to him like that. They usually were all flirty and sweet, not feisty or vicious like Sakura. "What's wrong? Never been dissed by a chick before?" this time Sakura smirked and Sasuke glared.  
"Ahahaha" Sakura laughed, "don't worry, I'll come" She smiled and hopped into the passenger seat.

Sakura told Sasuke where her small house was and he drove off in that direction.

Sakura was looking around the interior of Sasuke's car. Everything looked very clean and neat, 'wow, he must be rich' she grinned, 'I'm in a car with a rich, hot guy that just called me a friend after the first day at school'. Then she noticed a silver chain sitting in a hidden compartment and picked it up, holding it before her face. "Hey Sasuke, what's this? It's very pretty" Sasuke snatched it away from her fingers and threw it back in the compartment before continuing to drive. "Hey! What was that for?"  
"It's my chain, just leave it alone"  
"Why?"  
"Just leave it"  
"Just tell me!"  
"It's nothing ok, just, forget about it"  
"If it's nothing then you can tell me"  
"And because it's nothing, there's nothing to tell"  
"Then why aren't I allowed to see it?"  
Sasuke just stayed silent and drove up to a giant mansion, painted all white with a fancy lawn and fountain. "This isn't my house?! Where have you taken me!?" shouted Sakura,  
"Relax, its just my house" Sasuke replied calmly.  
"Why am I at your house?"  
"Stop asking questions and just follow me. I need to do something before I drop you off".  
"Ok" answered Sakura uneasily, 'I hope I'm not getting myself into any trouble'.

'WOW' thought Sakura as she stepped through the front doors of Sasuke's house.  
She was standing in an oval shaped room with shiny wooden floor and cream painted brick walls covered in picture frames. There was a huge white carpeted staircase going up the left side of the round room and an archway straight in front of Sakura, which Sasuke had just walked through.

Sakura followed him and walked through as well, she found her self in a rather large room with a kitchen in the top right corner and a large dining table. The floor was made of slate pieces and covered with beautiful rugs. 'Man, he really is rich' thought Sakura in awe and she leapt onto a squishy brown couch with green pillows. Sasuke glanced at her from the kitchen and smiled, not smirked, smiled.

"Hey, once you done destroying my furniture, you want something to eat?" asked Sasuke, now smirking,  
"Sure, and tell me again why I'm here?" said Sakura sweetly.  
Sasuke sighed, "I just need to fix something with my brother"  
'Brother? Sasuke has a brother? I wonder whether he's as sexy as Sasuke is...' though Sakura absently.  
"I'll just be a sec ok, help yourself to anything in the room" said Sasuke and he left back through the arch and up the stairs.

Sakura sat still on the couch, 'I'm in an unknown building, not to mention its giant, with two supposedly hot guys wondering around somewhere'. She grinned, 'time to explore!' Sakura jumped off the couch, rushed through the arch and up the stairs. She found herself in a long white carpeted corridor with many doors lining both sides. Sakura looked back and forth then took a step forward hesitantly, 'I hope Sasuke doesn't get angry at me for wandering around his house. Oh my god, it's so damn big! He must have a large family' suddenly a door opened a way's down the corridor and lady came out carrying towels. She stopped when she spotted Sakura and froze, "er...hi I'm Sakura, Sasuke's friend. Do you know where he is?" Sakura asked nervously.  
'Young master Sasuke, invited a girl over to the house? I wonder whether he's feeling well?' thought the maid. "Um, I saw young master Uchiha pass by a couple of minutes ago, but he didn't tell me where he was heading"  
"Oh...that's ok. Thanks anyway!" Sakura smiled and the maid smiled back before heading into a different room with her towels.

'This place is like a fuckin' five star hotel!' thought Sakura. She had explored the corridor's for a few minutes and soon discovered she was completely lost. 'Dammit, I should have stayed sitting on that couch...gah! Did I just run into a very tall rock?' Sakura looked up to see an almost exact replica of Sasuke except obviously older, 'but equally hot!' thought Sakura. She blushed and stood up quickly as the older Uchiha smirked (like Sasuke). "So what's a pretty little lady like you doing here?" he asked, a strand of charcoal hair falling over his eyes, the rest of it was long and tied back in a low pony-tail.  
"Aah, Sasuke told me he needed to talk to his brother before he took me home!" Sakura blurted out,  
"Is that so? And what did he need to discuss with me?" said the older guy.  
'What!? So this is Sasuke's older brother, I should've guessed, smirk, eyes, hair...hotness!' thought Sakura, still blushing.  
"Um..I don't know, I'm looking for him, do you know where he might be?"  
"Well, since he needs to tell me something, we may as well look for my foolish younger brother together. By the way, my name's Itachi".  
"I'm Sakura" said Sakura smiling,  
"Did Sasuke just meet you at school today?"  
"Yeah"  
"And just invited you over after school just like that?"

"Well, he was supposed to drop me home, but said he had to tell you something before he did. So, I dunno when I'll be leaving, I'm really sorry if I'm intruding or something" Sakura said worriedly,  
"It's ok, I definitely don't mind you being here" said Itachi smirking when he saw Sakura blush at his comment.

"Hey, stay away from her you bastard!"  
Itachi and Sakura spun around, Sasuke had just emerged from a door in the corridor and was standing glaring at Itachi. 'Ah sibling rivalry, it's just the same with me and Sasori, except we're cousins' Sakura thought of her older cousin with his red spiky hair and smart nature, she was sort of missing him.  
"What's wrong? I was just asking her why she was here" said Itachi smirking,  
"I brought her over, so she's my guest and that means you can scram! I'll tell you about it later" spat Sasuke angrily.

"Hey! Why are you so mean to Itachi Sasuke?" asked Sakura confused,  
"Because he's a rotten idiot that is nothing but trouble! Just forget about him, I'll take you home now, I got what I wanted" And he took Sakura by the hand and lead her to the front door. Sakura turned back to Itachi and waved apologetically, Itachi just smiled and continued walking away. Sakura just noticed Sasuke holding her hand and blushed brightly, 'Ah, he's holding my hand! This is so awkward, I only just met him and he's already...aah!' she thought.

Sasuke pulled up at the front of Sakura's small garden and she got out.

"Er...thanks for the lift, and the sorta visit to your house" Sakura said sheepishly to Sasuke who was sitting in the car still.  
'Maybe I should ask him about Itachi sometime, but not now, I'm really tired' thought Sakura.  
"Yeah...soo um bye, I'll see you tomorrow" said Sakura awkwardly,  
"Goodbye, see you tomorrow too" Sasuke said and Sakura smiled, so Sasuke smiled back.

Sakura unlocked her front door and flopped onto the couch, watching Sasuke drive away through the window.

"You know," she said to herself, "I think I could change that guy" Sakura smiled, "If I tried hard enough".

**The end of the second chapter! Boy, do we feel proud!**


	3. Past Experiences

**Again, I remind you that this story isn't totally planned so stuff like Tenten being able to tell liars really well was supposed to be included in the last chapter but I sort of...you know...forgot and didn't plan. Well, it's just me! This is the next chapter and sorry for lack of recap-ness.**

--  
**Chapter 3 - Past experiences**

Sakura arrived at school the next day to find all her old and new friends waiting at the front of the school for her.

"Are you always this late Candy?" asked Sasuke,  
"Are you always this cocky, chicken's ass?" answered Sakura.  
"Hn"  
"What the fuck does that mean?!" said Sakura waving her arms around dramatically. Everyone else looked at Sasuke for the answer. Sasuke just smirked and walked towards the school entrance for class. Sakura gaped, "Hey, don't walk away from me! Come back here right now! We haven't finished theconversation!" shouted Sakura after Sasuke who continued walking.

"God that guy gets on my nerves" said Sakura frustrated to Ino,  
"Really? I think he's pretty hot!" Ino replied excitedly. Sakura just sighed and checked her schedule, 'Maths, wonderful! My absolute best subject!' she thought sarcastically, 'I wonder who else is in this class'.

Sakura walked into her math classroom and sat down in the corner. The teacher was no where in sight and there was no one she knew well in the class. Sakura opened her math's text book and took out her pen, when all of a sudden there was an enormous crash, and someone walked through the door.  
It was guy that looked about Sasuke's height with fiery red hair and dark black eyeliner. He was grinning, had green eyes but not wuite her shade and had a couple of boys behind him.

"Who wants to PARTAY!?" the boy cried,  
"No one. Now sit down before you receive three months detention with me!"  
Their teacher had arrived just after the weird looking guy and had told him off. He huffed and glared at her before slumping into a chair and putting his feet up on the desk in front of him. He was wearing a loose grey hoodie, baggy jeans and white skater shoes.  
"Hey!" the teacher checked her list of students, "...Gaara no Sabaku! Feet OFF the desk! NOW!" she shouted, everyone could see the little vein in her forehead bulging.

The boy named Gaara glared at Sakura's Math teacher, but took his feet off the desk and kept quiet. 'Quite the trouble maker, ne?' Thought Sakura looking at Gaara, he noticed and winked at her mischievously. Sakura blushed and stared intensely at her maths exercise book, 'man, he's fierce on a whole new level!'.

Sakura couldn't focus on her maths, she kept thinking about what Gaara had done, winking and smiling at her all lesson.

The bell signalled the end of lesson and Sakura's next class was English, and she had it with Tenten and Neji.

They entered the classroom and sat down next to each other.  
"So Sak, how was Math?" asked Tenten cheerfully,  
"It was ok, but some guy with red hair kept winking at me" said Sakura, "I think he was called Gaara".  
"Gaara?" Neji asked, "As in Gaara no Sabaku?"  
"Yeah...I think that's his name, why? Is he some kind of major bastard?"  
"Actually, he is. He's been Sasuke's rival since first grade, Sasuke always beat him in everything and he get's pretty angry. I don't think Sasuke will be happy that Gaara's been winking at his friends"  
"Hmph, Sasuke can mind his own god damn business!" Sakura said, folding her arms as she did.  
Neji just raised his eyebrow's but kept quiet.

The order goes like this, from the left Tenten, Sakura then Neji.

When their English teacher turned his back, Tenten whispered to Sakura,  
"I think Neji likes me!" she hissed,

Sakura honestly didn't care at the moment, but she whispered back anyway.  
"And I think you like him too!"  
Tenten giggled but was caught by the teacher and had to face the front again, though the smile was still on her face. Sakura sighed, 'I bet she really _does_ like Neji, and he like her back. Time for some fun!' grinning, Sakura leant over to Neji and whispered in his ear, "So what you think of Tenten?"  
'Success!!' Sakura had noticed a faint pink appear on Neji's cheeks when she had asked the question about Tenten. "I'll take that," she pointed at his cheeks, "as a definite YES!"  
With that she turned back to the front, "wait...please don't tell her!" hissed Neji desperately.  
"No worries, I don't spill secrets!" she smiled and continued with English.

**Time Skip to Lunch...**

Sakura stepped into the cafeteria and almost ran into someone.  
"Hi there! You were the one with pink hair in my math class right?" he asked,  
"Er...yeah I think" Sakura replied nervously, it was Gaara she had ran into. 'I wonder how Sasuke became great enemies with this guy? I mean, he is a trouble maker, but he isn't rude or anything...at least I don't think...yet...' but Gaara interrupted her thoughts.  
"I like your pink hair, I bet it's natural"  
"Wow, how did you know? Well, of course it is!" Sakura smiled, 'for once, someone who doesn't take advantage of my pink hair'.  
"And I think your hair is nice too! It's just like my cousin's!"  
"Is he Sasori? I might have seen him before."  
"Yeah that's him. How do you know him?"  
"Seen him at football training, he's pretty good!"  
"I know. Well, I kinda got to get my lunch, so I'll see you around. And by the way, my name's Sakura."  
"Ok, good bye Sakura!"  
"Bye Gaara!"

He left through a door that lead to outside and Sakura continued on getting her lunch, then proceeding to the table where her friends all sat. 'I don't see what's so bad about Gaara, she thought as she sat down between Ino and Neji.

"Why are you smiling?" asked Neji,  
"Because I'm making lot's of new friends!" replied Sakura, smiling at everyone sitting around the table. They all smiled back and Neji shrugged. Sakura looked at Sasuke, who just glanced at her with his attractive black eyes making Sakura frown. "Why do you hate Gaara so much?"  
Sasuke's face darkened, "Because he messed with me, and I gave him hell, but he just doesn't seem to be able to stop". Sakura noticed Sasuke looking over her shoulder and she turned her head. Gaara was a couple of meter's away from her and mouthed 'Call me' to her as he walked past. Sakura smiled, not noticing Sasuke's death glare and clenched fists.  
'Stupid bastard's making a move on Sakura' thought Sasuke, 'She's not his type'.

"I have an idea!" cried Ino happily,  
"And what would that be, troublesome woman?" asked Shikamaru.

"How about...we go SHOPPING!!" squealed Ino excitedly dancing around on the spot.  
"Shopping? What a drag" muttered Shikamaru,  
"Aw, please come with me Shika?" cried Ino, latching onto his arm and giving him puppy-dog eyes.  
"Ok, ok just let go of me!"  
"YAY! So who else is coming?" Ino waited about five seconds, "Everyone? Good! This afternoon? Fabulous! Get ready for a whole evening of shop-ping!"

Kiba face-palmed and Sasuke sighed.  
"And we're going to stay at the mall ALL night!" said Sakura sarcastically. Ino is a total shopaholic.  
"Oh my gosh Sakura! I mean, I love shopping, but come on, that's going too far!" said Ino.  
"Oh my gosh INO! You are so stupid." Sakura sighed and grabbed her bag before making her way towards her next class, Science, with Sasuke. 'That cold hearted bastard is all I need right now!' she planted herself at the back of the classroom, and Sasuke sat himself next to her.

They were all completing their formulas in their books quietly and peacefully. There was only a couple of minutes left until the end of the day, when there was a shattering sound by the window. Sakura gasped and dropped her pen, a large electric airplane had just been steered into the class's window and sprayed glass everywhere. On the plane was written 'I don't care anymore, but I will win' and Sasuke knew it was from Gaara to him, but concerning what? What was Gaara planning on beating Sasuke at? 'I don't like the look of this' thought Sasuke uneasily.

Sakura stared at the writing, frozen to the spot with her hand creeping to her mouth.

"_Where have you been Sai?! You haven't answered any of my calls? Is there something you're not telling me?"_

Tears began to well up in Sakura's eyes and she stumbled back a bit, her hand still at her mouth.

"_I'm sorry Sakura, maybe you're just not enough"_

"_Not..not enough!?"_

"_Yeah. I guess you're just not like me. Maybe we're not meant to be"_

"_You mean...?"_

"_I really am sorry, I just...don't care anymore. How about we just stay as friends?"_

'Huh? Why is Sakura...crying? Is there something wrong? Maybe she got cut by glass!' thought Sasuke,  
"Sakura? Are you ok..?" asked Sasuke concerned.  
But Sakura was stiff, tears spilling down her face.

_Sai, just smiled sadly at the heart broken teen standing before him with the saddest face ever. Sakura just bolted, out the door, out of the school and all the way home. She buried her head in her pillows and cried her until her eyes hurt. 'I..I need to get out of here!' She started packing her bags._

_A week later Sakura stood beside her car and looked out upon her beloved home. But no, to escape the pain...moving house was the only way. She smiled sadly at the previous relationship she had and loved. Sai was everything she ever wanted but he just dropped her like a stone for a prettier, and supposedly, better girl. Clenching her fists she opened the car door and gave the town one last glance before driving away._

Sakura sat on the roof of the school. After the reminder of what her ex-boyfriend's last lines she had felt utterly broken all over again, and after a few minutes of memories, had run all the way to the roof as fast as she could. Leaving Sasuke and Gaara's plane behind.  
'Why did he have to say those awful things? What did I do wrong? Why didn't he love me as I loved him? What's wrong with me..?' Sakura curled into a ball, bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. 'It was all my fault, I wasn't good enough for him.' The tears started falling again and she buried her face in her knee's. After a couple of minutes, Sakura raised her head. 'I know what to do. I'll never ever fall in love again. Nothing is worse than what he did to me, I won't make myself go through it again. I promise that I will never fall in love...ever again'.

She wiped away her tears, grabbed her bag and walked down the stairs back to her math classroom. Sakura wanted to see what had happened when she was away, and she was positive her friends were worried, besides, they knew everything that had happened between her and Sai. 'Sasuke on the other hand, would be totally confused. Well he doesn't need to know about it. I hope Tenten and Ino don't say anything, to anyone'.

Sasuke was still in the classroom, pretty irritated. He absolutely hated not knowing what was going on, 'Where did Sakura go? Why did Gaara want to tell me "I don't care anymore, but I will win"? What's he done this time? Wait...was it directed at Sakura? What did he do to her?!' Sasuke clenched his teeth and fists. 'Ok, ok...calm down Uchiha. Alright, so Gaara has been flirting with Sakura and talking to her, but they don't seem to be an item. Then, he sends this message up here that has some sort of effect on Sakura. But it doesn't make sense'. Sasuke sighed, stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked out of the classroom to think. He had his usual stoic expression on and walked up and down the corridors, Sasuke is top student at the school, and right now he is working on something in his mind. It's almost certain he will get the right answer.

'No, Gaara must have aimed the message at me about something he wants, that he supposes I want too. And Sakura, I have no idea what happened with her. Actually, I bet it's some kind of girl thing, but what is Gaara talking about? I'm gonna have a good talk with him'. Sasuke smirked and walked down to the oval where the plane had been, he saw Gaara standing under a tree and made his way over to him.

Gaara grinned, his plane message to Sasuke was a success!  
"Hey Gaara!"  
Gaara turned his head and saw Sasuke approaching, 'coming to discuss IT now are we?' he thought.  
"Sasuke? What are you doing down here?" he asked, pretending to be clueless.  
"What did that message mean? And what have you done to Sakura?" Sasuke demanded,  
"I think you know what that special message was about, and I haven't done anything to Sakura!"

"Then why did she run off?!" Sasuke was getting pissed now.  
"What?! Don't ask me!" Gaara retorted,  
"Then please, remind me what the message was about?"  
Gaara glared and walked right up to Sasuke,  
"I know you like her, but you won't win this time! She was destined to be mine the minute I met her!" With that he walked back to the school's main building to his next class, leaving Sasuke under the tree totally confused and extremely frustrated.  
'What the effin' hell!?' he thought, 'her!? Who is her?' then his eye's widened.  
"He couldn't mean Sakura could he?" Sasuke said aloud, "Wait a second...I don't like her! I-I don't!" then he realised he was alone underneath a tree and groaned before running back to the school building.

Meanwhile, Sakura came down from the roof and walked to the front of the school where most of her friends were waiting for her, so they could go shopping like Ino said. Sakura had cleaned up in the bathrooms so no one could tell she had been crying, that is, except for Sasuke who was still excruciatingly mad.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I just sorta kinda needed to get something from a teacher" Sakura said,  
'Liar' thought both Sasuke and Tenten.  
They piled into their car's and all headed towards the giant shopping mall a few blocks away from the school.

"Oooh! I'm in PARADISE!!" cried Ino happily, "Right, so now we organise the pairs!"  
"PAAAIIRS?? WHY?!" shouted Naruto,  
"Coz I say, now shut up!" snapped Ino and Naruto stayed silent.  
"Now, one girl must go with one guy so he can carry her bags and I choose Shikamaru!"  
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Why me? I don't want to!" Shimkamaru said lazily,  
Ino glared at him, "Did I say 'don't'? I meant 'absolutely do'!"  
Ino smiled and arranged tho other shopper's with their own shopping buddies.  
Tenten went with Neji (she requested) and Hinata went with Naruto (he shouted). Sakura was going with Sasuke (Ino made them go together) and Kiba went with Shino (they considered themselves lucky).

The shopping pairs agreed to meet back at the south entrance in two hours.

And so the great shopping tournament began!

**OK, So it's done. I have school work, so the next chapter won't come as quick as this one and the second chapter. In fact it probably won't come for a while because I am gonna sit down and plan this story out so it works and I don't forget stuff. It's all for the greater good! :D Hope you liked it!  
lol get ready for the shopping tournament!!**


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